The City of Industry, a town where elections are typically decades apart and often uncontested, is experiencing something completely new: a recall against a City Council member.

Residents in the extremely rich, but tiny manufacturing-friendly city are attempting to remove a siting council member for the first time in its six-decade history. If the recall campaign against Councilman Abraham Cruz goes to a ballot, it also will be the first time residents have ever cast a vote related to Cruz, who was appointed to his seat by his peers and then later awarded another term without an election because no one ran against him.

Cruz did not file a response to the notice within the required timeline because he alleges the process is rigged by Industry’s two primary landlords — the city itself and the Perez family.

“Two state controller audits criticize the City Council for being a rubber stamp with no discussions, and when I started asking questions and doing my job as an independent councilman, I was excluded from closed session discussions and now this bogus recall,” Cruz said. “This is not a city, this company town is run like a criminal, racketeering enterprise.”

Industry, one of the richest cities in Los Angeles County on the strength of its manufacturing base, has a population of around 200, and a little more than half are registered to vote.

David M. Perez, the former mayor’s nephew and the head of waste disposal company Valley Vista Services, could not be reached for comment. An attorney for the family has regularly denied that the family plays any role in city politics, stressing that they are focused solely on their businesses.

Cruz previously worked for Square Root Landscaping, a city contractor that also employed Councilman Mark Radecki. Cruz said he left that job because he refused to “commit a crime like two of my council colleagues who are paid with city monies,” referring to Radecki and Mayor Cory Moss, who also works for a different city contractor. The council members routinely have to recuse themselves to avoid potential conflicts of interest.

Cruz worked in the overlapping roles for years and did not leave the landscaping job until after a change on the council put him on the outs.

Secretive meeting sparked recall

The recall push revolves around a meeting Cruz had with two former city employees and a controversial local power broker earlier this year. In a sworn deposition, one of the other attendees alleged he was asked to work with Cruz to assist with a corruption lawsuit against the city.

Cruz denies this, saying he was only looking for a job recommendation from former City Manager Paul Philips and didn’t know who else would be in attendance. In an interview at the time, Philips, who set up the meeting, acknowledged the lawsuit was discussed, but said Cruz did not share any confidential information and the meeting mostly focused on his search for new employment.

The lawsuit in question, filed by the Concerned Citizens of the City of Industry, is driven by developer William Barkett, who brought a proposal for a solar farm to the city, collected $20 million and then was forced out amid questions about how that money was spent. Barkett’s ally on the project, former state Sen. Frank Hill, has been operating behind the scenes since to try to get the project restarted, potentially through a hostile takeover of the land by the City of Commerce.

Cruz’s colleagues on the council censured him after learning Hill was at the meeting and accused the councilman of working to undermine the city’s government. They asked him to sit out of closed session meetings about that specific lawsuit because of the conflict.

Resident Michael Greubel, a planning commissioner, served Cruz with the recall notice at the end of October. In the notice, Greubel and nine other signators accuse Cruz of breaching the community’s trust “by engaging with individuals who are adverse to the City in pending litigation” and trying to convince others to assist with the lawsuit.

“Council Member Cruz’s actions have clearly demonstrated that he cannot be trusted and is not putting the interest of this council or the residents of Industry above his own agenda,” the notice reads.

To trigger a recall election, recall proponents must submit a petition signed by 30 percent of registered voters within 40 days of receiving approval from the city clerk.

Recall signators live next door to each other

Seven of the 10 residents who signed the notice live in houses owned by the Perez family, primarily all within a block of each other. The other three live in homes owned by Industry’s housing authority.

“When the 20 Perez homes rent for $700 a month and the 20 city-owned homes rent for $700 a month, you have an entire city in handcuffs,” Cruz said. “They can start a recall, they can stop a recall and they don’t want any more homes being built in the city unless they can control who moves in.”

Three of the individuals pushing for the recall are members of Industry’s Planning Commission, which in 2017 had a nasty battle with the city’s reform monitor, former state Attorney General Bill Lockyer.

Without evidence, Lockyer publicly accused the Planning Commission of cowing to the Perez family by rejecting a proposal to build 25 new homes on the outskirts of Industry. The Perezes, one of Industry’s oldest families, have an exclusive contract for trash hauling. The family has been a frequent target for accusations since at least 2015, when a report by KPMG alleged their businesses had collected $326 million from the city over a 25-year period.

Former Industry Mayor David Perez, the family’s patriarch, has been investigated by the District Attorney’s Office twice and cleared both times.

Industry, under new leadership following a contentious 2015 election, eventually sued its former city attorney, alleging she tried to influence the election through the KPMG report. That lawsuit was settled this week and the firm Burke, Williams & Sorensen agreed to pay $800,000 to the city as a result.

Housing often goes to allies

The 25 new homes would have radically changed the electorate and been the largest voting bloc in the tiny city. Lockyer, who alleged the Perezes wanted the project stopped to maintain their share of the housing, was ultimately fired and not replaced. Three current council members said they opposed the new housing because Hill purportedly wanted to fill the homes with people who would support his decisions.

An investigation by the Southern California News Group earlier this year found Industry’s subsidized housing is highly political and often manipulated to punish dissenters and reward allies. Nearly a third of the city’s population moved out of the insular town in the aftermath of the last election in 2015 and many were replaced with friends and family members of those in power. The current council has pledged reforms, but those efforts have been slow moving.

Cruz previously lived in Perez-owned housing before landing a seat on the City Council. He later was moved to a home Industry owns overlooking a golf course after joining the council with support from his co-worker at his former day job, Mark Radecki.

Radecki, once Cruz’s closest ally, has been accused of abusing his power to have a four-bedroom home renovated using city funds and manipulating the city’s housing to install supporters on the City Council. In the same deposition being used against Cruz, it is alleged Radecki tried to pressure a city employee — who ultimately quit because he was uncomfortable — into giving a no-bid contract to a specific firm.

Jason Henry is an investigative reporter with the Southern California News Group. Raised in Ohio, Jason began his career at a suburban daily near Cleveland before moving to California in 2013. He is a self-identified technophile, data nerd and wannabe drone pilot.

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